This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Document 62018CJ0342
Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 4 December 2019.
Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. v European Commission.
Appeal — Internal market in natural gas — Directive 2009/73/EC — Article 32 — Third-party access — Article 41(6), (8) and (10) — Rules on tariffs — Article 36 — Application for an exemption — Rules governing the operation of the OPAL pipeline — National regulatory authority — Exemption decision — Request for modification — European Commission Decision — Action for annulment — Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU — Admissibility — Decision of no direct concern to the appellant.
Case C-342/18 P.
Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 4 December 2019.
Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. v European Commission.
Appeal — Internal market in natural gas — Directive 2009/73/EC — Article 32 — Third-party access — Article 41(6), (8) and (10) — Rules on tariffs — Article 36 — Application for an exemption — Rules governing the operation of the OPAL pipeline — National regulatory authority — Exemption decision — Request for modification — European Commission Decision — Action for annulment — Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU — Admissibility — Decision of no direct concern to the appellant.
Case C-342/18 P.
Court reports – general
ECLI identifier: ECLI:EU:C:2019:1043
Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 4 December 2019 — Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo v Commission
(Case C‑342/18 P) ( 1 )
(Appeal — Internal market in natural gas — Directive 2009/73/EC — Article 32 — Third-party access — Article 41(6), (8) and (10) — Rules on tariffs — Article 36 — Application for an exemption — Rules governing the operation of the OPAL pipeline — National regulatory authority — Exemption decision — Request for modification — European Commission Decision — Action for annulment — Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU — Admissibility —Decision of no direct concern to the appellant)
1. |
Action for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Conditions cumulative in nature — Inadmissibility of the action where just one of those conditions not met (Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see paras 35-37) |
2. |
Action for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Whether directly concerned — Criteria — Commission Decision addressed to a national regulatory authority, requiring it to modify a decision for exemption from the EU rules governing the operation of a pipeline — Discretion of the national regulatory authority responsible for its implementation — Characterisation — Not directly concerned — Inadmissibility (Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2009/73, Art. 36) (see paras 38, 39, 42-54) |
3. |
Fundamental rights — Right to effective judicial protection — Review of legality of EU measures — Procedures — Protection of that right by the EU judicature or by the national courts according to the legal nature of the contested measure — Possibility of using an annulment action or reference for a preliminary ruling on validity (Arts 19(1) TEU; Arts 263, fourth para., 267 and 277 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47) (see paras 62, 63) |
4. |
Judicial proceedings — Objection of inadmissibility — Power of the General Court to rule immediately on the objection of inadmissibility without ruling on the substance — Extent of its discretion (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 130) (see paras 73, 74, 77) |
Operative part
The Court:
1. |
Dismisses the appeal; |
2. |
Orders Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. to pay its own costs and bear those incurred by the European Commission; |
3. |
Orders the Federal Republic of Germany to pay its own costs. |
( 1 ) OJ C 276, 6.8.2018.